Ensure solid supervision of ambulances – MP aspirant to Ambulance Service

The Chiana-Paga constituency Parliamentary candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Robert Aloo, has called for proper supervision of the ambulances procured by the government and distributed to the 275 constituencies in the country.

He said ensuring proper supervision and maintenance of the vehicles will prolong their live span to continuously support in giving Ghanaians healthcare in emergency cases.

The NPP while in opposition in 2016 promised to procure an ambulance each for the 275 constituencies. Somewhere last year, the ambulances arrived at the shores of the country to the joy of Ghanaians.

But the government fail to distribute them in line with an initial announcement on January 6, 2020, after the National Ambulance Service called for postponement of the commissioning, citing unavailability of trained hands and trackers for the vehicles.

After being parked for months, the ambulances were finally commissioned this week and released to the various representatives in Parliament.

The commissioning was done by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday at a colourful event at the Black Star Square in Accra.

Though many Ghanaians have hailed the NPP administration for this mammoth addition to the health sector which would greatly improve emergency healthcare delivery in the country, a lot more have raised concerns over the maintenance of the fleet and the poor state of the roads they will travel on.

The minority in Parliament have strongly said the ambulances would not last on Ghana’s bad roads.

Mr. Robert Aloo, who is eyeing to snatch the Chiana-Paga constituency Parliamentary seat for the NPP in December 2020, to some extent agrees that the country has poor roads and a bad maintenance culture towards government property.

Speaking to the media on the sideline after he joined the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Kasena-Nankana West to inspect ongoing developmental projects in the area, Mr. Aloo however disagreed with the section of Ghanaians who believe the ambulances will not last on the roads, adding that “it only has to do with attitude and commitment to maintaining them”.

He stressed that once Ghanaians regard the emergency vehicles as personal property, guard jealously and maintain them routinely, they will survive the roads to fulfill the purpose for which they were procured.

While commending President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the NPP government for undertaking such a laudable idea, Mr. Aloo noted that government will put in place proper measure to supervise their operations and periodically maintain them.

“This is a huge project on its own and I assure that government will ensure that these ambulances are solidly supervised and maintained”.